Given the news coverage, it seems unlikely that anyone reading this blog has not seen or heard about the
announcement by Amazon, Berkshire-Hathaway and JP Chase Morgan about their new employee healthcare collaborative. It is ordinarily pretty hard to hear these names in the news without the notion of 'disruptive' coming to mind, especially when that word is used over and over again as a descriptor of what they are doing.
As I thought about this, however, I began to ask myself what exactly is disruptive about this? Certainly a number of large employers, including a number of large health-systems, are self-insured. How is this different? Certainly Kaiser, among others, has demonstrated the viability of health maintenance organizations (HMO's); how is this different?
One interesting phrase from the announcement is "...
free from profit-making incentives and constraints...". In theory, many of hour current healthcare systems are not-for-profit. How would this be different? Certainly pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, healthcare providers (including us!), and healthcare facilities will continue to want to operate in the black. does this mean that they will hire their own medical staffs and operate their own pharmacies, hospitals and alternate care sites?
Another interesting phrase in the announcement may well be "...
cutting out the middlemen...". There seems to be general consensus that for-profit industries involved with healthcare business transactions may be responsible for some of our spiraling healthcare costs. In theory, many of these help control healthcare costs. How will this system be different?
Others speculate that these giants may use their omnipresence and purchasing muscle to re-cast their relationships with networks of providers, including the pharmaceutical industry, physician networks, pharmacies and hospitals. Of all speculation, this one seems to be the easiest to understand.
The announcement, is vague; details are lacking, and, as
STAT reports, "... the history of the healthcare industry is littered with examples of players who have pledged to disrupt the field but ultimately failed..." . So it is going to be interesting to see exactly what form this new enterprise takes. My personal belief is that, if anybody can disrupt our system, it is likely these three players. So it is going to be interesting to see exactly how they go about simplifying healthcare and making it more transparent.
What do you think?
Dennis A. Tribble, Pharm.D., FASHP
Ormond Beach, FL
DATdoc@aol.com
The opinions expressed herein are my own and not necessarily those of my employer or of ASHP